Hi, I’m Jessica’s Creativity and I’m back again to give you more tips about using your down time to best effect.

On Monday we covered stepping away from your work and spending time with people.

Now it’s time for the next tip!

Third Tip: Slurp Up Creative Fodder

Holidays are usually the time when one goes about ingesting every calorie intensive morsel one can find. But here I’m talking about guilty pleasures for your Creativity, things that are a little more time intensive than you would normally allow. 

Examples?

Read a Book 

Okay, maybe you already read books, but I’m talking about reading a book from cover to cover. Curling up with it near the heater (or the air conditioner, depending on which hemisphere you happen to live in) and devouring it, savouring your favourite parts and plowing through the plot with complete abandon.

Try a book you wouldn’t normally read, or one you’ve been putting off because you just didn’t have the time. (Jessica’s just finished reading Handbag Heaven by Maggie Alderson which is not one she would have chosen herself, but she enjoyed it immensely all the same.)

The hidden benefit: Books provide you with new information, examples of storytelling and opportunities to study writers in action. Even if you dislike the book, you’re learning what not to do. You’re experiencing other people’s expressions of creativity. 

Watch a Movie 

This one can be done with the whole family, and what’s a holiday without a good movie? Yes, I know, it takes up a whole chunk of the day that’d you’d normally spend on something else, but this is a holiday! Get a movie out and watch it. If you’re still feeling guilty, then choose a movie about writing or poetry or art or something very intelligent.  

You might try Dead Poet’s Society, Miss Potter, Bright Star (although Jessica hasn’t had chance to try this one out yet), Finding Neverland, or you could have a marathon of your favourite TV series. 

The hidden benefit: You get to see a story from start to finish in under two hours. The more movies (or series episodes) you watch, the more patterns you’ll find to reveal how stories fit together. You’re exposed to locations, characters, emotions, music, plot and lots of other interesting elements. These will all marinate in your brain and could one day reappear as an idea, a solution to a problem or even a whole story. 

Visit an Interesting Spot

Once again, why not take the family or some friends along for this one? Go somewhere interesting, whether it be a coffee shop, an aquarium, a museum, a play, a concert, a park. Perhaps think bigger. Go swimming, skiing, driving, hiking. Get out of the house, out of your neighbourhood, and experience new things.

The hidden benefit: You’re exposing yourself to new places, people and concepts. It will widen your mind and perhaps create connections you would never have thought of otherwise.

I’ve outlined the advantages of each of these actions, but don’t think about the benefits while you’re doing these things. The benefits will happen automatically. All you need is to do them. Your Creativity will be sitting in the background, absorbing all this luscious new creativite fodder.

Come back past on Friday when I’ll share my last tip.

(Pst! Jessica’s 100th post is coming up fast. Do you have any suggestions on how we could make it special?)